AIN’T NO MOUNTAIN HIGH ENOUGH…WELL, THAT ONE WAS — Martina Navratilova had to abandon her climb of Africa’s highest mountain after getting sick during the ascent, climbing the peak to bring attention to a sports charity. She was released from the hospital on Tuesday. “I am feeling much better and really pleased to be going home. I’d like to thank all the staff at Nairobi Hospital, who were wonderful, and really took care of me,” she said. “I have also been very touched by all the messages of support I have received over the past few days, and want to thank Laureus Academy Chairman Edwin Moses in particular…I did joke that perhaps I have gone above and beyond the call of duty for Laureus on this occasion!” The 54-year-old was assisted down Mount Kilimanjaro and driven to the Kilimanjaro Christian Medical Centre, while the rest of the 27-person climbing team went on.

WHAT A COUNTRY(WOMAN)! – It looks like Maria Sharapova will represent Mother Russia in February when Russia faces France in the first round of the Fed Cup in Russia. The former No. 1 will step to the plate for Russia for the first time in three years — because she has to. If Sharapova doesn’t play Fed Cup in 2011, she cannot participate in the 2012 Olympics at Wimbledon. That will cut into her shopping time in the U.S.

MISC
Mark Philippoussis is targeting getting into the main draw at Wimbledon in 2011…The ATP New Haven men’s event has moved to Winston-Salem beginning in 2011…Tennis writer Jon Wertheim on the WTA’s public filing document of money generated versus the ATP’s: “I hate to write this and arm the bigots, but I think this document is an awfully damning exhibit against equal prize money. If Organization A generates of $83 million and Organization B generates revenue of $61 million, hasn’t the marketplace determined that one property delivers more value than the other? (And keep in mind: this is 2009, when the WTA still had Sony Ericsson sponsor money and the ATP didn’t have Corona; I suspect the disparity is greater right now.) One of tennis’ great virtues is its “big tent” ability to accommodate men and women at the same events. We all strive for equality. But strictly as a matter of economics, I’m struggling with the concept of equal pay here.”…World No. 1 Caroline Wozniacki is hawking zit medicine: “Acne is the last thing I need to worry about when I wake up the day of a big match. I’m happy to speak out about Proactiv, it really works for me. As a female athlete I’m always sweating, under a lot of stress and traveling all over the world, so I needed something that worked with my lifestyle. Proactiv cleared my skin. When I have great skin, I’m confident. When I’m confident, I can focus on winning.”…Three Aussie players, Brydan Klein, Nick Lindahl and Dayne Kelly, have been told by Tennis Australia’s Todd Woodbridge that they are not welcome at the 2011 Australian Open wildcard playoff tournament. “This action has been taken following reports of numerous accounts of unacceptable behavior at tournaments both locally and internationally over the past few months,” Woodbridge told the Herald Sun. “All players are expected to abide by Tennis Australia’s code of ethics and behavior. The opportunity to participate in the Australian Open playoff is a privilege, not a right. This decision will send a clear message to all Australian players that breaching this code will not be supported by Tennis Australia through the granting of wildcards or other financial support.”…Andy Murray was surprisingly the No. 6 Yahoo! sports name search in 2010, behind No. 1 John Terry, Wayne Rooney, Ashley Cole, David Beckham and Tiger Woods. Roger Federer was No. 10…Andy Roddick’s grandmother died, resulting in the moving of the date for the ConAgra Food Rock-n-Racquets exhibition in Omaha, Neb., to Dec. 17…Robin Soderling has split with coach Magnus Norman after Norman announced he wants to “focus more on his personal life and new projects.” — Sometimes coach-speak for ‘wasn’t getting enough cash’? — ”I had the two best years of my career so far with Magnus as a coach,” Soderling said. “It was fun and exciting to continue, but I reached a point in my career where I need a coach who can put the necessary time and focus 100% on my tennis. That’s why I still feel like it was the right decision for us both and we parted good friends.” Now Soderling has hired Claudio Pistolesi as his new coach. Yikes. No Swedish coaches want to work with him?…Ivan Lendl talking to a local Florida newspaper on the new strings in the modern tennis game: “It’s not so much the rackets as the strings. It’s just amazing what you can do with them; how hard you can hit the ball with spin. The ball moves so much, it’s crazy. It takes away the serve-and-volley game. To me, they shouldn’t be allowed…”…From tennis writer Jon Wertheim on the ATP shortening the ATP calendar and increasing the off-season beginning in 2012: “My pet theory: a lot of the wear and tear isn’t from playing, per se, but from the rigors of travels. Players a generation ago could go through 80 matches in part because they were going from Miami to Tampa, not from New York to Asia to Europe. Maybe the ATP needs to fight space, not time.” — Uhhh, sitting relaxed on plane flights is the problem? Hmmmmm, ok…Lleyton Hewitt has announced he will work with coach Tony Roche again…From Matt Cronin writing for FOX Sports on American girl prospects: “Then there are U.S. junior girls who hold reasonable ITF junior rankings such as Lauren Davis, Beatrice Capra, Sloane Stephens, Madison Keys and Krista Hardebeck. All have had impressive victories at times, but all have question marks whether it is a lack of size, lack of big weapons, or lack of maturity.” — Keys, at around 6 foot, lacks size? How tall do you want her?….The ATP World Team Championship in Dusseldorf, the poor-man’s Davis Cup, is kaput, ending a 33-year-run, after the tournament could not replace outgoing sponsor ARAG…Former world No. 1 and horse showjumping fanatic Martina Hingis has married her French showjumping boyfriend Thibault Hutin. Hutin is 24 and Hingis 30. Rob that cradle Chuckie! “Our wedding came as a surprise for many, but it has been in planning long in advance,” Hingis told a Swiss magazine…Will Rafael Nadal’s new Armani underwear ads show him picking Armani out of his ass?…So all of Pete Sampras’ trophies and stuff got robbed from a storage facility that didn’t have security cameras, etc.? Sounds like Pete went the cheap route with the security place? Can’t image that…The Federer-Nadal exos begin next week, to be televised on ESPN apparently…Tennis-X Awards coming soon — brace yourselves, fools!…This week Maria Sharapova begins working with her new coach, Swede Thomas Hogstedt, at the Bollettieri Academy in Florida. According to Tennis.com, her ever present coach/hitting partner/semi-professional eater Michael Joyce recommended the Hog, who has formerly worked with China’s Na Li and former world No. 2 Tommy Haas. See if you can work on that double-fault-licious serve.

Strings DO have a major impact on the modern game. Too bad….so what now? Buy “magic strings” and you too can become champion? So why not bring “Spaghetti” strings back? WTF?

Despite the hoopla, Racket technology since the POG has not improved that much, players are still playing with mostly non-recreational stuff…thinner frames…etc…but strings?….ooh la la. Gimme dat Lexilon Big Banger and I will hit topspin over your head…..

It would sure make the pro game different if they put limits on the strings.. would be like forcing wood baseball bats compared to the aluminum type of thing. String differences would definitely bring back more variety in the pro game instead of baseline bashing.. but I’ve seen S/v work in the modern game – llodra. It all depends on the athlete & talent I believe.

Dear Staff, you do know that traveling from Miami to Tampa is a lot less taxing than traveling from Miami to Europe or Asia, right? It’s not just the the question of sitting relaxed on a flight, but what about the jet-lag and how that affects your body and bodily functions?

@ slope days: yes of course jet-lags do affect people, but it’s not like it’s such a big deal. These guys are athletes, very well-conditioned people with a medical staff traveling along with them, not feeble grannies. It’s a burden that comes with the job, so to say, especially since the ATP insists on promoting tennis all over the world…

I actually thought about this a while ago. Tennis players have it pretty tough when it comes to jet lag. Each week they’re adjusting to new conditions. And it’s not like they’re just going to these places to sit in an office, they’re pushing their bodies to the limit all the time. Think about how much momentum Nadal gains during the clay to grass season. I think a huge part of that is that there is minimal adjustments that his body has to make. Then look at his play in the fall when he’s going from New York to Bangkok to London. It’s tougher on the body. I personally don’t understand how the players are as successful as they are with this. It definitely is a big deal even if the players don’t realize it. There’s ways of optimizing your body’s efficiency and nonstop jet lag is definitely not one of them.

Plus climate adjustments (going from winter in Europe to summer in Australia, or from continental clime in the US to humid in Asia or dry in Middle East).

Plus all that A/C air full of bacteria on airplanes and in airports.

Plus adjustments to polluted air, different water & food.

No wonder many get respiratory & gastric infections, no matter how young and fit they are.

Living out of suitcase can be fun, but it can also become a drag rather quickly for some. Many just switch from airport to hotel to courts and back, without even attempting to sightsee. It takes a strong and stable person to persevere on tour, particularly if not at the very top.

Yet, it beats working as a coalminer or a receptionist, that’s for sure.

And take Roddick for example. He’s someone who has complained about the long season several times. But I personally believe he’s been pretty smart with his schedule for a few years now. He doesn’t try to be some sort of iron man. Yet he does get injured on, I would say, a yearly basis. And while I don’t have any concrete evidence, it seems like most of his ailments come about when he’s away from the US. In 08 he hurt his shoulder in Rome. Last year he go injured during the Asian swing. This year he got sick in Madrid.

also, perhaps the writer of this article doesn’t get out much to realize the toll on someone’s health during air travel, especially international air travel. One gets exposed to different climates, peoples, hotels, and food, which all significantly increases the risk of acquiring foreign bacteria, viruses, parasites etc. This type of exposure is exponentially much worse in international travel, than compared to flying from “Miami to Tampa”. And on top of that the emotional and physical tolls from jet lag and living out of a suitcase, can cause further wear and tear.

To the writer of this article, have you EVER flown internationally? And after reaching your destination, would you be comfortable in being at your physical peak and play a sport competitively? It is absurd how easily this writer brushes off this concern.

Which other sport requires this much travel? It is great that tennis is going international at such an alarming rate, but the traveling hazard requires serious logistical planning.

I completly agree with you arishuza. I am originally from Europe and everythime I travel from US it takes me at least 3 days to adjust to the time difference and get some sleep at night hours. I do not know how those guys do it all the time.

RE: Travel. It’s a big deal. A lot of tournaments are placed so close together that if you’re in the final of one of them, you are expected to be at the next tournament the following day, possibly even playing that day. You have to make very quick adjustments and if you don’t get good sleep that day (Which is not easy since your body clock is confused) you might be screwed.

The AU summer is unforgivably hot. The European players are at a disadvantage because it’s very cold winter during their off season and they have to adjust to dramatically different conditions in the space of a week or so. A very cold winter in Melbourne is about 50F which is actually uncommon. That’s nothing compared to winters in the north. It never snows or drops below freezing in Aust. The summers are typically 100F+.

They could go to Melb early to prepare in advance and get used to the heat and conditions but then they’d give up their holiday season and rare time they get to spend with their families.